Parentage: ‘Lipipetz’ is a seedling selection resulting from the open pollination of Lagerstroemia hybrid ‘Hopi’ (not patented) performed by the inventor at his commercial ornamental plant nursery in Coatesville, Pa. on Sep. 1, 2006. Having grown several varieties of Lagerstroemia that performed well in his climate, the inventor endeavored to develop new cultivars with favorable gene expression using one such cultivar, Lagerstroemia hybrid ‘Hopi’, as the seed parent. Mature ‘Hopi’ plants were grown in close proximity to a number of additional cultivars, to facilitate cross pollination. Seed was subsequently collected from these ‘Hopi’ plants, germinated, and the seedlings grown to a mature size in order to evaluate the progeny for unique characteristics which may be of commercial value. In September of 2008, one such seedling was observed to possess a more compact growth habit relative to the parent plant and other progeny plants. The plant was isolated for propagation and further evaluation and given the name, ‘Lipipetz’.
Asexual Reproduction: Asexual reproduction of ‘Lipipetz’, by way of softwood stem cuttings, was first performed in June of 2009 in Coatesville, Pa. Through three subsequent generations, the unique features of this cultivar have proven to be stable and true to type.